QuoteReplyTopic: Artists who are more influential than popular Posted: November 16 2013 at 10:19

I've for a long time thought of Captain Beefheart as the epitome of this phenomenon as far as music is concerned. He's nowhere as popular as sometimes-collaborator Frank Zappa if you just look at album sales, but he seems at least as influential. It could also be relevant that many of his followers belong to styles most people don't think of when progressive/psychedelic music is mentiond. In addition to being one of Tom Waits' biggest inspirations, there's also his considerable impact on the more eccentric varieties of punk: The Birthday Party, The Fall, Minutemen, Public Image Ltd. and so on. Not to mention that he played a big part in launching Ry Cooder's career.

It might be a similar case with the bigger Krautrock names other than Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream, at least outside Germany/Austria/Switzerland. Acts like both Amon Düüls, Can, Faust or Neu! do seem to be mentioned most often as sources of inspiration from artists that don't quite belong to the same subcultures or generation as they do... and hence not share that much of the same audience. Not just referring to the aforementioned artsier punk groups, but also newer alternative/indie music that in turn was inspired by them. Sometimes I even think Tangerine Dream could be getting there... I've met a lot of fans of electronic music TD helped pave the way for who still find TDs own sound too old-fashioned.

Then there's how Wishbone Ash inspired many early heavy metal groups like Thin Lizzy and Judas Priest to use the entire duelling lead guitars trope as a major element, but today are rather obscure.

Other artists who come to mind for you?

Edited by Toaster Mantis - November 16 2013 at 14:59

"The past is not some static being, it is not a previous present, nor a present that has passed away; the past has its own dynamic being which is constantly renewed and renewing." - Claire Colebrook

King Crimson are hugely influential, of course. But not many people realise that, compare with the multiple chart successes of the other 'Big Six' bands in the early 70s, King Crimson were not that popular, in the real sense of multiple chart hits.After their first two albums they never had a Top 10 hit. Compare this with Pink Floyd, all of whose studio albums were Top 10 hits, or with Yes (9 Top 10 hit albums)

I'd throw Jeff Beck into the mix even though he's not widely influential or popular by the standards of many others that will be mentioned here, he is often regarded as the guitarists' guitarist and that counts for something.

"You know what uranium is, right?It’s this thing called nuclear weapons. And other things. Like lots of things are done with uranium. Including some bad things.But nobody talks about that."

I'd throw Jeff Beck into the mix even though he's not widely influential or popular by the standards of many others that will be mentioned here, he is often regarded as the guitarists' guitarist and that counts for something.

I quite agree with this. I saw him perform once as part of B.B. King's Festival of Music, which most people thought of as a festival of Blues. B.B. himself kept making reference to "the great Jeff Beck." Jimi Hendrix could also fall into this category - extremely well known but his record sales were never on par with his notoriety and influence.

The world of sound is certainly capable of infinite variety and, were our sense developed, of infinite extensions. -- George Santayana, "The Sense of Beauty"

King Crimson are hugely influential, of course. But not many people realise that, compare with the multiple chart successes of the other 'Big Six' bands in the early 70s, King Crimson were not that popular, in the real sense of multiple chart hits.After their first two albums they never had a Top 10 hit. Compare this with Pink Floyd, all of whose studio albums were Top 10 hits, or with Yes (9 Top 10 hit albums)

I'd throw Jeff Beck into the mix even though he's not widely influential or popular by the standards of many others that will be mentioned here, he is often regarded as the guitarists' guitarist and that counts for something.

My friend Bill has been saying that for years but then he's a huge Jeff Beck fan.

Good call on Jeff Beck, he's still nowhere the household name that Hendrix or Page are. I can see where the King Crimson mention is coming from. There's a reason they're nowhere as commercially successful as Genesis or Jethro Tull or Pink Floyd: Most of their music isn't as immediately accessible as many of the other big '60s/'70s UK prog groups. Certainly took much longer for me to get into them than most other groups of their time and generation.

What about Vanilla Fudge? They were one of the earliest bands to fuse rock with classical, but aren't mentioned today as often as Deep Purple, Genesis, Procol Harum when it comes to pioneering that fusion. Not sure they were quite that historically important, though.

"The past is not some static being, it is not a previous present, nor a present that has passed away; the past has its own dynamic being which is constantly renewed and renewing." - Claire Colebrook

I can't really think of influence on the wider world of music, but in terms of my own compositions, I'd have to say Kayo Dot and Alcest. Neither are extremely popular, but both have a very very distinct style that is just so unique that if you've heard them it'll just seep into your compositions. Even though they're not my favourite bands, I take more influence from them than Porcupine Tree or Riverside, simply because they have such unique styles.

I feel like VDGG would fit into this category as well. In their heyday, they only had widespread acclaim in Italy, from what I've heard (correct me f I'm wrong on this). Progheads I know who don't frequent this site are significantly less likely to have heard of them than their 70s contemporaries. But if you look at the number of prog groups and individual musicians who were influenced by that group and Peter Hammill in particular, the lasting influence is undeniable.

I feel like VDGG would fit into this category as well. In their heyday, they only had widespread acclaim in Italy, from what I've heard (correct me f I'm wrong on this). Progheads I know who don't frequent this site are significantly less likely to have heard of them than their 70s contemporaries. But if you look at the number of prog groups and individual musicians who were influenced by that group and Peter Hammill in particular, the lasting influence is undeniable.

Good call. Interesting example, when Marillion 1st appeared on the scene the press assumed Fish was influenced by Gabriel because of the makeup but he actually admitted Peter Hammill was his biggest influence

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